EASEMENT BY NECESSITY?

I have a piece of property in pa.  It is landlocked, but there is a gravel road that goes back to it.  That owner won't grant me a right of way.  Does anyone know the law about easments by necessity.  Is it shortest distance or is it the least amount of damage to ones property to get back to mine?

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Permalink Reply by Dave on March 13, 2012 at 11:49am

Also does landlocked property scare away energy companies?

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on March 13, 2012 at 12:28pm

It would appear that the right of way/easement should have been recorded at the time your landlocked piece was subdivided and sold to you.  I don't believe the original owner that sold the piece has any choice but to grant an easement.  You'll end up solving this problem in court.  Bottom line - I don't believe you can be denied access to a public road, thus the energy companies wouldn't care.  Heck, they'll build you the road once you get the right of way.  Some links and quotes I found.

"Under Pennsylvania law, if a seller of real estate sells a landlocked parcel of land at a time when the seller has remaining land which could provide the landlocked parcel with access to a public thoroughfare, and if the parties for some reason fail to provide for a driveway across the seller’s remaining lands, the law generally provides the purchaser with an implied easement over the remaining lands of the seller".

http://www.lgc.state.pa.us/deskbook06/Issues_Private_Property_Issue...

http://www.wolfbaldwin.com/attorneys_lawyers/articles.asp?ArticleID=50

http://www.ij.org/component/content/article/37-privatepropertyright...

Permalink Reply by Dave on March 13, 2012 at 12:38pm

The piece of land i own became landlocked when i major highway was put in. You can not ac

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on March 13, 2012 at 12:52pm

It looks like you intended to write more.  But anyway, I'm trying to picture this situation where you originally did have access to a public road, and then somehow the highway cut off your access and there was no contingency put in place to maintain your access after the construction.  Based on all the stuff I read in the past 30 minutes, the easement issue always goes back to the original seller. If that person with the gravel road was not the original seller than I guess we need more help here. Seems the mistake actually occurred when the highway project right of way was developed.

Permalink Reply by Dave on March 13, 2012 at 12:57pm

Yes i did want to write more.  Yes the person with the gravel road was not the original seller.  The piece of property that i own had access at one time, when the highway was put in there was no access to the piece of property on the east side of the highway(which is my piece of property).  What i'm trying to figure out is how they grant easements by necessity.  Is it the shortest distance or the least damaging to ones property(which would be the easiest route)

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on March 13, 2012 at 1:13pm

I would think the state would have to give you a access to road frontage as they land locked the property.

Permalink Reply by Dave on March 13, 2012 at 1:26pm

Not sure if your familiar with pa but it's intersate 79 which i would probably think they would not give me access.

Permalink Reply by Billy Park Whyde on March 13, 2012 at 1:45pm

 I know I-79 in PA but if they cut you off they should be the ones to resolve it. 

Permalink Reply by Doug Pierson on March 14, 2012 at 12:44am

Well, in your case - despite how the name sounds -  I don't think you meet the definition of an easement by necessity, since the piece was not landlocked at the time of sale to you.

"An easement by necessity is created when, after severance from an adjoining property, a piece of land is without access to a public highway. . . . To establish that an “easement by necessity” has been created, a property owner must prove:

1. the titles to the property in question and the property over which the alleged easement exists had once been held by one person;

2. this unity of title had been severed by a conveyance of one of the tracts; and

3. the easement was necessary in order for the owner of the property in question to use his land, with the necessity existing both at the time of the severance and at the time of the exercise of the easement.

Just as is required for an easement by implication, an easement by necessity also requires that there be “unity of ownership” of both the property that must be accessed and the property over which the easement allegedly lies."

Obviously, Pa. won't grant you access to I-79, but it seems there should have been something constructed to allow you over or under the road.  Perhaps you can convince the state to right their wrong and purchase a right of way for you.

Permalink Reply by Dave on March 14, 2012 at 9:35am

I did buy the piece of property the piece of property landlocked.  I was not the owner before I-79 was put in.  How would i go about getting the state to pay for a right of way.

What i want to know is when they grant an easement by necessity is it granted by the closest route or the least damaging to ones property (easiest route)

Permalink Reply by Tom Frey on March 16, 2012 at 3:14am

I have the same problem in Ohio. When they put the turnpike in they land locked 10 acres of the property and i have no access to it.

Permalink Reply by Finnbear on March 16, 2012 at 3:51am

You bought it knowing it was landlocked?

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